Chapter 206: Live Broadcast
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“The Breezy Plains is actually a very interesting place. If you have time, you can go to the Omniscient Tower to have a look…” Macklin said for no rhyme or reason. He ignored Lin Li after he spoke, and went to the Spell Testing Hall on his own.
“How is it interesting…?” Lin Li thought about it for a long time, but didn’t understand what it meant. When he looked up in puzzlement, he saw that Macklin had already passed through the corridor, and was walking along the stairs to the third floor. “Hey, how interesting is that place? Can’t you just tell me?”
Macklin laughed mysteriously, but said nothing, and pointed out the direction of the Omniscient Tower…
“…” Lin Li was speechless. He stood there, unsure whether to laugh or cry. This old fellow was already advanced in years; how did he suddenly have the interest in mysteries? P lease help, all right? You’re not suited for this kind of thing; it’ll destroy the obscene image you’ve spent so hard to build up…
Lin Li followed Macklin into the Spell Testing Hall with a stomach full of doubts.
The Spell Testing Hall was bustling with activity these days, probably due to the finals that would commence in a month. Lin Li followed behind Macklin into the hall, only to see dozens of young mages chatting together in twos or threes. They seemed to be waiting for an empty room.
There was nothing they could do. Even with deep pockets like the Alanna Guild of Magic, the Spell Testing Hall could not be built as one wished to. The structure of this thing was too complex and expensive. Take the room where Lin Li last tested the Dragon’s Eye as example—it was only about ten square meters, but the building materials had cost over 100,000 gold coins. With the addition of facilities such as the crystal ball and the various inscription processing rooms, it could not be done without at least 500,000 gold coins.
Also…
This was not something that was paid once and for all. Every time it was used, it had to be maintained by an Inscriber. It was considered doable for the Alanna Guild of Magic—there were many Inscribers in the guild. If it were a guild like the Jarrosus Guild of Magic, there was not even a single decent Inscriber that one could find in it. That was a real problem. It probably cost an astronomical amount to hire an Inscriber to maintain the hall every year.
In Gerian’s words, this was the mage profession. Every bit of mana was accumulated by an uncountable sum of money.
The Alanna Guild of Magic was so large that it was not clear what was the number of mages at each level. Coupled with the sudden influx of trial mages, the Spell Testing Hall had been overcrowded these days. Lin Li had heard Mason complain about it upon his return, but he didn’t believe it then. Now that he had come, it really seemed as if there wasn’t even any space to squeeze in at one glance.
Why are there so many people… Lin Li mused inwardly, and his brows wrinkled involuntarily. There were perhaps no less than 40 or 50 people, including people from the Alanna Guild of Magic and the mages who came to participate in the trial. It seemed that they were all waiting for empty rooms. If he had to wait for them to satisfy their needs, wouldn’t he have to wait till the night?
However, Lin Li had forgotten one thing…
He had forgotten whom he had come with…
Who was Macklin? He was the person second only to Aldwin in the Alanna Guild of Magic. Even Aldwin had to ask Macklin for advice on some decisions. Did this old man have to join the line in order to use the Spell Testing Hall? No one had ever heard of it…
Besides, even if this old man would observe the order, would the Spell Testing Hall administrator dare to let him observe it?
As soon as the old fellow stepped into the Spell Testing Hall, a middle-aged Magic Shooter came up to meet him. He looked respectful and even bowed slightly when he spoke.
“Felic!”
Lin Li watched the two men talk from afar when he suddenly heard someone calling his name from behind. Turning back, he saw Mason and Orrin coming from the distance.
Mason looked reluctant, and he walked into the Spell Testing Hall with dawdling footsteps. Although Orrin, who was behind him, still had a poker face that had remained unchanged for thousands of years, there was a hint of triumph in his eyes.
“Why are you guys here?” Lin Li was puzzled. Didn’t Mason just swear that he wouldn’t ever fight Orrin again? Had he forgotten about it in just a moment’s time?
“He had a bet with me and lost.” Orrin’s words were simple as usual.
“What bet?”
“Don’t mention it…” Mason shot an angry glare at Orrin, and, with much regret, said, “This kid is too cunning. I’ve accidentally walked into his trap…”
“So, what you’ve said in the afternoon doesn’t count again?”
“It doesn’t count. I’m willing to admit defeat. I’ll fight this idiot until the end of the month. I’d like to see if he can really fly…”
“…” Lin Li watched as Mason clamored, and couldn’t help but take pity on him. Although Mason had the strength of a Magic Shooter at present, he was still far worse when compared with Orrin. Moreover, this fellow was too arrogant—he had won against Orrin once the day before and had already gotten this cocky. If they really were to fight until the end of the month, wouldn’t he be tortured by Orrin through and through?
“Felic, hurry up and come here, stop dawdling there, kid!” While the three of them were talking, they heard Macklin yell from a distance.
“Coming, coming…”
“Felic, what did the old fellow ask you to do?” Mason was curious.
Lin Li pursed his lips. “The old fellow said he wants to teach me a lesson…”
“…” Mason and Orrin drew in a cold breath almost concurrently. Macklin had been their trial mentor since coming to Alanna. From abusing the Fantama Pantera to entering the Shadowglen, how could they not know the strength of this old fellow after all these encounters?
He was a peak Archmage—just one step away from a Legendary-mage.
Even if Felic was any more talented, he was only a Magic Shooter. The gap between them was as far as the distance between heaven and hell. In such battles—which had a huge disparity in level—tactics and techniques were only minor elements. The old fellow’s lesson might really turn into an abuse…
For a while, the two guys looked at Lin Li with sympathy in their eyes.
“Why…?”
“Brother Felic!” Mason laid one hand on Lin Li’s shoulder and smiled brighter than the flowers. “In all conscience, how do I treat you usually?”
“Very good.” Lin Li’s reply was not perfunctory. Since he came to Alanna, his two teammates were arguably the ones who treated him best. Although both of them had strange personalities—one was lewd and the other indifferent—the concern that came out of every little thing couldn’t be concealed, and Lin Li had kept these little things in mind all the time.
“Then…” Upon hearing the satisfactory answer, Mason’s eyes beamed with delight. “Bring us in to have a look?”
“Look at what?” Lin Li was stunned, and could not react for a moment.
“I’ll see how the old fellow abuses— ahem, advises you!”
“Yes.” At Mason’s words, even Orrin nodded his head at the side. Although the fellow’s expression didn’t change much, there was a morbid excitement in his eyes.
“…” Lin Li looked at Mason, then at Orrin. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded reluctantly. “I’ll ask the old fellow.”
The three of them were talking in low voices, and Macklin in the distance could not wait any longer. “Hey, can you hurry up? What’s the use of dilly-dallying, do you think I won’t teach you a lesson like that?”
“Bloody hell, do you really think you’re surely able to teach me a lesson?” Lin Li grumbled under his breath, and then, with a reluctant expression on his face, asked Macklin, “Big Brother Mason says they’d like to come along, do you have any objections?”
“No,” Macklin replied coolly. “There’s nothing much today, anyway. I’ll teach them a lesson after I’m done with you.”
“Okay.”
The middle-aged Magic Shooter respectfully took the four men outside a spacious hall. “Mr Macklin, this is the arena you want.”
“Mhm, go and busy yourself.”
“Yes.”
After the middle-aged Magic Shooter bade goodbye, the four of them reached out and pushed open the door, and an empty hall came into sight.
There was nothing in the hall—neither mysterious mageweaths nor sparkling crystal balls were present. It looked like a new house that had yet to be decorated. But when Lin Li walked into the hall, he could clearly feel that a powerful force was protecting the whole hall.
The feeling was very intriguing—he couldn’t find the source of the force, yet he could clearly feel that it was there.
Macklin introduced the origin of the hall to the three of them as he entered. “This is the Guild’s Arena, specially used for battles of Archmages. In the past 1,200 years, most of the internal disputes within the Alanna Guild of Magic have been settled here. Apart from Aldwin, only I have the right to use it.”
“By the way, look above you,” Macklin said, pointing to the heads of the three guys. “12 Warlock’s Eyes have been fixed here.The battle between the Archmages will pass through these 12 Warlock’s Eyes to every crystal ball in the Alanna Guild of Magic. Kid, do you understand what that means?”
Lin Li gave a start. “What does it mean?”
“It means that if you don’t take it seriously and get thrashed too badly by me, you’ll be the laughing stock of the whole guild.”
“What’s wrong with you…” Lin Li was amused yet annoyed. The old fellow’s brain was indeed wired differently from others. He was using a strength nearing that of a legendary-mage to bully a trial apprentice, and he was actually relishing it, having the cheek to broadcast such a low-down thing…
“It’s for your own good. Don’t you know ‘to know the things of shame is to be near fortitude’?” Macklin was especially smug. “But, don’t worry. I am a person of status, after all. I will not bully you with pure strength. In order to be fair, I will only use a level-15 strength.”
“You sure?”
“Duh, do I not know what you’re capable of? It’s more than enough to deal with you with a level-15 strength!”
“Then, you can try…” Since Macklin was so confident, Lin Li couldn’t say anything more. He took his Winter Staff out from the Ring of Endless Storm and challenged him. “Come on!”
Two powerful magical waves emanated from both men at the same time.
Mason and Orrin took a few steps back subconsciously and looked at them with some apprehension. They knew that they were very, very strong all along. One was at the peak of the Archmage realm, and the other young mage was a monster that could not be measured by common sense.
But it was only at that moment that they really felt how strong they were.
Just the magical waves that emanated from them had forced the two of them back a few steps. As they took in the incomparably strong power, both of them measured themselves up in their hearts—what would be their end if they were to replace them to fight? The result disappointed both of them…
If they were to replace either of them, perhaps they wouldn’t even be able to release a spell before being turned into ashes by the other party. It would be a complete suppression of strength, without even slightest room for them to resist.
“Hey…” Mason poked Orrin, and asked in a very low voice, “Don’t you feel that kid, Felic, has gotten even stronger than before…?”
“Duh.”
While the two were talking, Macklin suddenly moved. There was only a rushed recitation, and a flash of lightning tore open the air. Winding arcs, like golden snakes, surrounded Lin Li in an instant.
“F*ck, that old fellow’s ruthless…” Mason watched, his mouth agape. He’d never imagined that the old fellow would release a Cloud Storm, which was a level-14 spell, on the first move. With Felic’s current strength, it would be a little problematic for him to cope with it.
Lin Li was not flustered at all despite being under the Cloud Storm. He had seen the Cloud Storm back in Jarrosus, and knew the elemental structure of this spell well. He watched Macklin summon the lightning in the sky, but there was no panic in his expression. He merely erected an Elemental Shield and began a hurried recitation. When the golden snakes fell from the sky, a Lightning Shield Field had surrounded him.
“Good job, Felic!” After breaking through the realm of a Magic Shooter, Mason’s vision had improved drastically. At this time, he could see some subtle things, just like the Lightning Shield Field that was released by Lin Li at present.
The Lightning Shield Field was a level-10 magic spell. It was not a difficult spell to cast; it was especially not a big deal for Felic, who possessed a level-13 strength. But just at that moment, the Lightning Shield Field and the Elemental Shield were lit up almost at the same time.
This also meant that his teammate had unleashed two magic spells concurrently.
The gap between releasing one spell and two spells was not as simple as one plus one equalling two.
Not to mention Mason, even Macklin was slightly surprised.
As soon as the Lightning Shield Field was lit, Macklin knew that his attack had missed its target. Even three Cloud Storms wouldn’t break the Elemental Shield and the Lightning Shield Field.
“Not bad!” Macklin nodded his head, and there was a little approval in his eyes. Meanwhile, a raging flame was rising above his thin right hand.